Aryn Drawdy, Corporate Communications Director
aryn.drawdy@agcocorp.com
Holly Howells, FareShare
Holly.Howells@fareshare.org.uk
Funds will help FareShare secure enough food for a million meals in two years and intensify climate-action mitigation
(BUSINESS WIRE) -- The AGCO Agriculture Foundation (AAF), a private foundation with the vision to prevent and relieve hunger through sustainable agricultural development, today announced a USD 300,000 grant to FareShare to ensure surplus food reaches vulnerable communities in the United Kingdom while tackling food waste.
The two-year partnership is expected to help FareShare secure 475 tonnes of surplus food and redistribute more than one million meals. The project will assist in growing the award-winning Surplus with Purpose Fund, which covers the cost for farmers to harvest and divert food that would have otherwise been wasted.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimates that food waste contributes between 8 and 10 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, so tackling food waste is a pressing issue. The funding will also directly help agricultural businesses by reducing the environmental effect of food waste through interventions to harvest fresh surplus products such as fruit and vegetables. Over the next 24 months, for every tonne of surplus food FareShare and AAF redistribute through this project, approximately 1.6 tonnes of embedded CO2 could be saved, and another 3.8 tonnes could be prevented from harmful alternative disposal.
"As a foundation, our support of the FareShare surplus food project comes at a crucial time and aligns with AAF's vision to prevent and relieve hunger. We hope to support the food needs of these vulnerable households while combating climate change at both ends of the food chain by tackling food waste," said Roger Batkin, Board Chair, AGCO Agriculture Foundation.
The AAF-funded surplus food project contributes to four of The United Nations' 17 Sustainable Development Goals: Zero Hunger, Good Health and Well-being, Climate Action and Responsible Consumption and Production. The project will supply food for thousands of vulnerable people, tackle food waste to address climate change impact, improve overall well-being through access to good nutrition and provide a scalable solution to rescue food.
"We should never be wasting good food, especially not amid a cost-of-living crisis. Millions of people are struggling with the rise in food prices, fuel and household bills. We've seen the impact of demand for food across our network skyrocketing. FareShare is grateful to the AAF for extending their funding to the UK at this crucial time. This partnership will help us further our reach and make a meaningful difference in getting surplus food from farms to people's plates," said Lindsay Boswell, Chief Executive Officer of FareShare.
About AGCO
AGCO (NYSE:AGCO) is a global leader in the design, manufacture and distribution of agricultural machinery and precision ag technology. AGCO delivers customer value through its differentiated brand portfolio including core brands like Challenger®, Fendt®, GSI®, Massey Ferguson®, Precision Planting® and Valtra®. Powered by Fuse® smart farming solutions, AGCO's full line of equipment and services help farmers sustainably feed our world. Founded in 1990 and headquartered in Duluth, Georgia, USA, AGCO had net sales of approximately $11.1 billion in 2021. For more information, visit www.AGCOcorp.com. For company news, information and events, please follow us on Twitter: @AGCOCorp. For financial news on Twitter, please follow the hashtag #AGCOIR.
About the AGCO Agriculture Foundation (AAF)
The AGCO Agriculture Foundation (AAF), initiated by AGCO Corporation (NYSE: AGCO) in 2018, is a private foundation with the vision to prevent and relieve hunger. The foundation initiates impactful programs that support food security, foster sustainable agricultural development and build needed agricultural infrastructure in marginalized farming communities. AAF is domiciled in Vaduz, Liechtenstein and operations are managed from Duluth, Georgia, USA. For more information, please visit https://www.agcofoundation.org/
About FareShare
FareShare is the UK's biggest charity fighting hunger and tackling food waste since 1994. The charity organization is born out of the belief that no good food should go to waste, especially when people are going hungry. FareShare redistributes its surplus food through a network of nearly 9,500 charities and community organizations.
For more information, visit our website: https://fareshare.org.uk/
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20221128005695/en/
Aryn Drawdy, Corporate Communications Director
aryn.drawdy@agcocorp.com
Holly Howells, FareShare
Holly.Howells@fareshare.org.uk